The
insignia of the 79th Division is a gray Lorraine cross on a blue shield
with a gray border; it was adopted during World War I. Having
distinguished itself at Montfaucon, in Lorraine, the division selected
the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol of triumph since the 15th Century, as
its insignia.

ACTIVATED

15 June 1942, Camp Pickett, Virginia.

ARRIVAL EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

17 April 1944

ARRIVAL CONTINENT (FRANCE)

14 June 1944 ( D + 8 )

ENTERED COMBAT (ETO)

19 June
1944

COMMANDING GENERAL (ETO)

( June 1942
- May 1945 )

Maj.
Gen. Ira T. Wyche

ORGANIC
UNITS

313th Infantry Regiment

314th Infantry Regiment

315th Infantry Regiment

79th Cavalry Reconnaissance
Troop ( Mechanized )

304th Engineer Combat
Battalion

304th Medical Battalion

79th Division Artillery

310th Field Artillery
Battalion (105 Howitzer)

311th Field Artillery
Battalion (105 Howitzer)

904th Field Artillery
Battalion (105 Howitzer)

312th Field Artillery
Battalion (155 Howitzer)

Special Troops

779th Ordnance Light
Maintenance Company

79th Quartermaster Company

79th Signal Company

Military Police Platoon

Headquarters Company

Band

ASSIGNMENTS ( ETO )

18 April 1944: VIII Corps, Third Army.

29 May 1944: Third Army but attached to VII Corps,
First Army.

30 June 1944: Third Army, but attached to First
Army.

1 July 1944: VIII Corps.

1 August 1944: VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army
Group.

8 August 1944: XV Corps.

24 August 1944: XV Corps, Third Army, 12th Army
Group, but attached to First Army.

26 August 1944: XV Corps, First Army, 12th Army
Group.

29 August 1944: XIX Corps.

7 September 1944: XV Corps, Third Army, 12th Army
Group

29 September 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group, but
attached to the XV Corps, Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.

25 November 1944: XV Corps, Seventh Army, 6th Army
Group.

5 December 1945: VI Corps.

6 February 1945: Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.

17 February 1945: Seventh Army, 6th Army Group, but
attached to the XVI Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.

1 March 1945: XIII Corps.

7 March 1945: XVI Corps.

7 April 1945: XVI Corps, Ninth Army,
12th Army Group.

CAMPAIGNS (ETO)

NORMANDY( 6 June 1944 - 24 July 1944 )
(active)

NORTHERN
FRANCE ( 25 July 1944 - 14
September 1944 ) (active)

RHINELAND( 15 September 1944 - 21
March 1945 ) (active)

CENTRAL EUROPE( 22 March 1945 - 11
May 1945 ) (active)

COMBAT CHRONICLE

After training in the United Kingdom from 17 April 1944, the 79th
Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach, Normandy, 12-14 June and entered
combat 19 June 1944, with an attack on the high ground west and northwest of
Valognes and high ground south of Cherbourg. The Division took Fort du Roule
after a heavy engagement and entered Cherbourg, 25 June. It held a defensive
line at the Ollonde River until 2 July 1944 and then returned to the
offensive, taking La Haye du Puits in house-to-house fighting, 8 July. On 26
July, the 79th attacked across the Ay River, took Lessay, crossed the Sarthe
River and entered Le Mans, 8 August, meeting only light resistance. The
advance continued across the Seine, 19 August. Heavy German counterattacks
were repulsed, 22-27 August, and the Division reached the Therain River, 31
August. Moving swiftly to the Franco-Belgian frontier near St. Amand, the
Division encountered heavy resistance in taking Charmes in street fighting,
12 September. The 79th cut across the Moselle and Meurthe Rivers, 13-23
September, cleared the Foret de Parroy in a severe engagement, 28
September-9 October, and attacked to gain high ground east of Embermenil,
14-23 October, when it was relieved, 24 October. After rest and training at
Luneville, the Division returned to combat with an attack from the
MignevineMontiguy area, 13 November 1944, which carried it across the
Vezouse and Moder Rivers, 18 November-10 December, through Haguenau in spite
of determined enemy resistance, and into the Siegfried Line, 17-20 December.
The Division held a defensive line along the Lauter River, at Wissembourg
from 20 December 1944 until 2 January 1945, when it withdrew to Maginot Line
defenses. The German attempt to establish a bridgehead west of the Rhine at
Gambsheim resulted in furious fighting. The 79th beat off German attacks at
Hatten and Rittershoffen in an 11-day battle before withdrawing to new
defensive positions south of Haguenau on the Moder River, 19 January 1945.
The Division remained on the defensive along the Moder until 6 February
1945. After resting in February and March 1945, the Division returned to
combat, 24 March 1945, crossed the Rhine, drove across the Rhine-Herne
Canal, 7 April, secured the north bank of the Ruhr and took part in clearing
the Ruhr Pocket until 13 April. The Division then went on occupation duty,
in the Dortmund, Sudetenland, and Bavarian areas successively, until its
return to the United States and inactivation.